The Newark Star-Ledger didn’t include the line.
Not in the Los Angeles Times, Orange County edition. I will attempt to find out if it’s in the Orange County Register.
Could be, I never cared much for either of them, but I thought that both of them passed within short times of one another. Still, it looks like Abby’s alive. Regardless of having Alzheimer’s or not, the line’s still funny, IMHO.
You know, you’d think that having twins would be confusing enough for any set of parents without deliberately making their names almost identical…
Many people think it’s “cute” to give their twins names which are similar or rhyme such as “Gary” and “Terry” (a pair of twins that I knew).
Columbus Dispatch didn’t run it either. I remember reading in one of their columns (I could never keep Ann and Abby straight) that each newspaper edits to fit the space they have that day. (Someone complained about having read an incomplete answer.)
GT
(runs off to check paper)
Well, my paper (the State Journal-Register of Springfield, IL) omits the bolded “balls” sentence. And FWIW it does include “the love of my life.”
The Buffalo News had the line, I did a double take and said wow, that’s funny.
It was in the Albany (GA) Herald even! I gotta call my sister tonight and ask her if it appeared in the lil ol’ hometown daily. It’d be just a scandal in that little town! They’ll all be up at The Idle Hour Pub talkin’ about it if it did.
FWIW, four more publications picked up the story after my last post: Tulsa World, The Record (Hackensack, N.J.), Charleston Gazette, The Grand Rapids Press. None contain the “balls” line.
The Nashville Tennessean (Gannett) did NOT have the “balls” line.
I literally RAN to dig out that paper and see if it was there. How disappointing.
FTR, the original Dear Abby (Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips) is still alive, but retired from the column several years ago soon after her identical twin sister, Esther Pauline Friedman Lederer (aka Ann Landers), died. I’ve always liked Ann Landers more, but they have both given similar advice over the years. Since her daughter has taken over the column, Dear Abby has definitely been a bit more in tune with today’s mores and has used language that can be construed as more risque at times. But so what? This hubbub about the missing “balls” is ridiculous. If anything, it’s just a double entrendre. Remember the hilarious SNL skit with Alec Baldwin’s sweaty balls?!
Shweaty Wiener was better. Ana Gasteyer said “peener” instead of wiener. I fell off my couch. I have no idea how Alec Baldwin kept a straight face.